I’m just going to come out and say it–I was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. And let me tell you–I am so very relived to be so wrong. Last episode, I thought for sure they were going to fall into the usual drama trope of good guy blamed for a crime he didn’t commit, being forced to go out on the lamb in order to clear his name. As I said before, I hate that trope so hard. I’m incredibly relieved and grateful that not only did the writers not go there, but they used this opportunity of catching, not murdering the killer to show character growth in Dae Gu.
Would Dae Gu in the beginning of the story have murdered the killer? Was he looking for physical retribution? I honestly don’t know. I know he was hotheaded, but killing? Before he became a detective, he was going to be a lawyer. Which means he wasn’t completely against the idea of the law. It wasn’t the law that failed his mother, in his head it was the bad guys and Detective Seo. I’m going to go with he wanted to catch the killer, and to just prove Seo was a in on it–from there he’d make sure he’d let the law take over and go off into the sunset to have a happy ending. Ahem. Probably not that last part.
We see that not only did he go there looking to catch the guy, but the gun that he brought was empty of bullets. The killer said that he and Dae Gu were the same person or in the same situation–well that I don’t believe. Dae Gu has had all of his instances forced upon him but the killer has chosen to be bad. He was the one who took the gun to the flaming stick fight, and while I’m sure he did find lots of hardships afterwards, it was only a year later that he was working as an enforcer for whoever the ultimate baddie is and killing school nurses. That smacks of not really trying to have a normal life post life on the force. And we still don’t know why he’s even back in Korea. Even Detective Seo mentioned it in the interrogation, the guy was overseas, the statute of limitations on the murder was almost up–why did he choose now to come back to finish off the job? As we know from the previous episode the Congressman hadn’t called him back to Korea, the man was horrified to see that his chicken had come back to roost.
I think I meandered there.
Anyway. No, I don’t think the two men are similar with the exception of that hotheadedness that we saw Dae Gu, this very episode, that he is now growing to control his temper. I’m going to cross my fingers and hope that this continues to work for him.
Of course I’m not going to say that the killer wasn’t completely wrong. The last bit of wisdom that he threw out to Dae Gu about not trusting people because it will bite you in the end? As we know in the wings we have the reveal of the Captain, the one person Dae Gu has trusted since the murder of his mother was actually part of the bad guys responsible for that? Yeah, that’s not going to be good and I hope, now that he’s starting to open up to others around him, he’s not going to retreat back into his crusty shell.
Now that we’ve got the mini-big bad out of the way, or the killer behind bars, and we (or more importantly Dae Gu) know’s that Detective Seo was never a bad guy, the plot seems to be gearing up for the bigger baddie–who we all can probably assume is the congressman. Is it me or does that seem like it’s a bit of a put on? We, because we’ve seen the congressman from the very start, knew that his went further than just the killer and the company president–so this seems a little anti-climactic. If they’d wanted us to be surprised, or concerned, they should have not revealed the congressman until now.
And why do they all want to kill Dae Gu? It can’t just be because he witnessed the murder could it? There has to be something bigger behind it. Especially now that the killer has been caught and said the crime food chain only went up as high as the company president. Just kill the killer and be done with it. Although I guess if the company president is dead, and the killer is murdered–that would lead to questions as to who was left to order the hit.
This episode also brings back the question as to whether the captain is actually a bad guy again. On the page she’s playing it ‘keep your friends closer and your enemies closer” or keeping Dae Gu on her good side, until such a time where she wants to use him. But I’m still going to stick with, she really does care for Dae Gu. I don’t know how she found out who Dae Gu was when he was in the orphanage, but it could not have been a surprise that he just happened to be the kid she was sponsoring.
Although this writer does love his/her coincidences– much to my irritation.
She is still frantically trying to find a way to protect Dae Gu while making sure that he doesn’t find out the truth about her past. Maybe that’s why she sponsored him–as sort of a penance for what she did to his mother? But does she really think she’s going to be able to get out of this without being discovered? She’s not that dumb.
I think the only way that she could be evil and has been holding onto him for evil purposes is if the reason they are trying to kill Dae Gu has more to do with something else besides witnessing the murder of his mother. Oh! Oh! Here’s a Kdrama twist! What if the Congressman is Dae Gu’s dad? An out of wedlock baby of a congressman who had the mother murdered? Now there is a Kdrama reason for murder.
For some reason I really want this to be true now.
What I don’t get, is why the killer didn’t spill his guts? He knew the congressman had sent someone to murder him, he knew he was already disposable to that team, what does he get out of it by keeping it a secret? The Captain said he’d be in danger if he talked–but it looks like he’s in danger now. If he tells the police the truth he could get protection from them, take power away from the bad guys, and possibly get a lesser sentence for himself in the meantime. It just doesn’t make sense for him to keep quiet.
Besides you know, all that stuff, this was a pretty cute episode!
I love how the group of new detectives have banded together and how now Dae Gu is letting them inside his walled defenses. The scene with them eating ramen together trying to force Dae Gu into the youngest role was just so cute. He’s always been the most mature and dark one of the group, one would never have realized he was, in fact, the youngest. Here, that doesn’t mean much, but in Korea and its hierarchy, it means a lot and because of that, when they tried forcing them to fetch and carry for them, he had no choice but to do so. Or, again, at the beginning of the story when he had no regard for them would he have bothered? Probably not.
When the upcoming bad things happen, I hope that he remembers that these people are his friends and he can trust in them, and know that they will have his back.
Now that he does know that Detective Seo is not the bad guy that he originally thought he was, it’s interesting to see them try to readjust their relationship. Again, the hierarchy thing, Dae Gu has to listen to and show respect for Detective Seo, and now Dae Gu has no real reason to buck him as much. After spending almost half of his life despising Detective Seo it is going to take some work to be comfortable with him. And trust? I wonder when that will actually happen. Especially if Dae Gu finds out that Detective Seo is spending time with Soo Sun. Heh. I can’t wait for Dae Gu to be jealous of that–I’m ready for some cuteness from our main couple.
We did have our scene with Dae Gu and Soo Sun on the road where he saves her life and clutches her to him tenderly. (Ahem. My romance writing roots are showing.) I. Can’t. Wait for these two to get together. It’s going to be freaking awesome! I’m super rooting for them. I just hope that the show gives us time to enjoy them together as a couple. But I’m starting to doubt that we will considering that Dae Gu may have warm fuzzies for her, she had that moment of awareness of him (but with her body pressed against his, it was pretty unavoidable).
Later though, when she was biking with Seo, she had no pause when she said she was not dating Dae Gu–easily telling him of her mothers warning to ‘not eat the house rabbit’. (I say, EAT THE RABBIT!) I’m not sure if it’s just the way Go Ara is playing it or how the character is written, but we’re now on episode 12 of a 20 episode drama–I think it’s time for her to be questioning herself a bit–even if it is with just a look to the side or a pause in her speech.
So next week we’ll have another crime of the episode which is directly linked with the growth of the characters. I’m glad we get to see Soo Sun’s mom again, but I’m worried about her story as it never goes well when a regular person tangles with the uber society. Especially with one entangled with a Congressman, as this one is.
Seriously though. Soo Sun’s mother just happens to get assaulted by a woman who is connected to the congressman who is looking to murder Dae Gu? And the lady and her husband are played by more well known people too–which is never a good sign for their characters to be going away quickly. I’m at the point where I am grinding my teeth with this writer and his/her coincidences. Yes, I know all Kdrama is like this so I shouldn’t just blame this one writer, but this is the first time I’ve been writing about a show episode by episode so I’m hyper aware of it. And it’s ticking me off.
I look forward to seeing the band of detectives saving Soo Sun’s mom. I hope this will allow Soo Sun and Dae Gu to get a little closer and maybe we can get a better look into her backstory with the death of her dad and why she became a detective. And maybe we can get Soo Sun’s mom to realize how awesome Dae Gu and Soo Sun would be together and take back the rabbit comment.
Am I the only one a little worried that the mom won’t approve of them together, not because they work together, but because of who Dae Gu is and where he came from? He’s an orphan which is a strike against him. His mother was murdered and on top of that, Soo Sun’s mom had a grudge against Dae Gu’s mother from the start–spreading the word that she was concubine.
She’d better not get in the way of our couple because that would make me cranky. Unless her interfering brought them closer together–because then I would be back to loving mom. Lets cross our fingers!
Notes:
This episode is brought to you by Subway.
The scenes with the three detectives on the uncomfortable road trip was so funny!
Soo Sun trying to force the two men to interact with each other so they can smooth over the lumps, is laughable.
I dislike how they try make Soo Sun seem dumb. Who does not look both ways before they cross the street? I know it’s an easy cheat, and I don’t hate that they had that moment of closeness, but the scooter was right there! Even a slight look to her left and she would have seen it. Or heck–hadn’t she even heard it coming? Hrm.
Talking about that video, I also squee’d over how the boys immediately tried to protect her from seeing the video. And not just because they had to protect her as a girl but because she was a member of their team and the team protected their own. YAY! The writer had better not splinter up the group in some sort of future plot.
How is it that Ji Kook is older than Soo Sun? What was he doing with his life before he became a detective? It took Soo Sun what 6 tries to get in, that’s why she’s late, Tae Il was in med school before deciding to become a detective. If Ji Kook is the oldest of the group, why is he just now becoming a detective? Or do we not care?
I love Soo Sun and her just one of the guys attitude. When they were all hiding the video of her mother being assaulted from her, her first thought was that they had been watching porn and teased them for it. Nope, she is not your typical Kdrama heroine and I love her all the more for it.
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